{"id":13651,"date":"2016-06-14T14:23:46","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T19:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=13651"},"modified":"2017-06-27T08:53:35","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T13:53:35","slug":"my-voice-getting-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2016\/06\/14\/my-voice-getting-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"My Voice: Getting Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer classes sure feel like a regular semester class\u2014I say that as this is my second Summer semester\u2014but most Summer students understand that it doesn’t feel quite like Spring and Fall terms. We’ve got nice weather, some of us are tempted to try and squeeze in a vacation, there are fewer students on campus, the list goes on and I’ve often managed to put aside the other parts of college during these semesters.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you picked this up closer to publication, this still applies to you. If you picked this up at the start of Fall term, you should know a few things about Summer semester.<\/span><\/p>\n

First off, if you qualify for any sort of Pell grant, you may be awarded the remainder to use during a Summer course that was not awarded to you in your previous semester. This can help significantly especially for full time students that often pick up a seasonal job over the break while taking maybe one or two classes over the summer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Classes can fill up just like Spring and Fall terms. There’s a reason for that. Not all courses are incredibly popular or thus incredibly funded at Sinclair. With well over half the staff being adjunct faculty, some departments only have one or two full-time professors, if that. This translates directly into your path as a student in an unpopular major.<\/span><\/p>\n

With no demand for the courses, there may be upwards of a year and a half between when certain courses are offered during a time that can be scheduled. If you start your degree missing a cycle, it directly impacts your graduation. Summer semester can help minimize that.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are courses offered on campus and a variety of online courses, which are increasingly popular. Are online only classes the best for all students? Certainly not\u2014there are many less than perfect components to online learning, but I have some faith\u00a0that there will be some improvements as online learning becomes more mainstream and incorporated on the community college level. If you can work something out it can be worth it or even flat out necessary to avoid spending an eternity in associate or certificate limbo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mentally check your path to graduation now to humor me. Can you graduate by August next year? Don’t know? You sure might be able to, even if you only have a few classes under your belt. There are opportunities to really cut down on the time it takes to get your degree, and the older I get the more I really appreciate time and understand the consequences of wasting it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Summer semester can speed up your graduation or, on the other hand, space out your classes to give you some flexibility. Really, I travel often and have often done my online class homework in airports or some incredibly concerning but cheap hotel and although I’m not thrilled to do it, because Summer semester exists I can stay on track. <\/span><\/p>\n

My first semester here I had not been in a classroom in three or four years, so I had no idea how I would respond to getting back into education. I took very few credits to ease myself into it. Summer semester helped me not have to veer much off the path I set for myself, and it might be able to do the same thing for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Summer semester on campus can be kind of relaxing. The Clarion’s still around, keeping up with everything as usual. The popular guest restaurants are here too, which is nice when you want to spoil yourself without taking a drive. The summer events in Dayton aren’t anything to sneeze at, so depending on your schedule you could go to class and just head around town. <\/span><\/p>\n

Open gym and swim hours are still there to give some relief from the heat or keep you healthy. Starbucks will still be there for you when you need it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is better, waiting up to a year and a half or possibly more to take the courses you need, or having just a few hours less fun in the sun? Most of us aren’t kids here, we’re working and going to school anyway\u2014but it can be tiring to think I’ve been in school for the past two years straight. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, being able to budget out my degree and graduate is a good enough trade-off for that constant stress in most ways. Fear not, even if you attend Summer Semester, you get almost a month off. Check out the options for both A and B terms for next summer, and make an appointment with an advisor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Be your own advocate, even the best of the best\u00a0can’t be perfect\u2014don\u2019t take your chances, make your chance happen. Even class can feel a little more rewarding when you finish an exam and are greeted by nice weather and maybe the option to go lay out in the sun while you contemplate if you completely and utterly flunked or suddenly remember the answer to a question you stressed out about and left blank.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Barton Kleen<\/strong>
\nManaging Editor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer classes sure feel like a regular semester class\u2014I say that as this is my second Summer semester\u2014but most Summer students understand that it doesn’t feel quite like Spring and Fall terms. We’ve got nice weather, some of us are tempted to try and squeeze in a vacation, there are fewer students on campus, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[1999],"class_list":["post-13651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news","tag-barton-kleen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-3yb","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13652,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13651\/revisions\/13652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}